Apple dates its EU app rewrite: October 1, 2026, and the install fee becomes a 5% commission

Apple updated the Apple Developer Program License Agreement on August 18, 2026, introducing new business terms and policies for apps distributed in the European Union, which it says followed close collaboration with the European Commission ^[1]. The primary changes take effect on October 1, 2026 ^[2], which is 44 days after the agreement went up for developers to review and accept ^[3][19].

The money mechanic is the part to model first. Under the new terms every developer distributing in the EU sits on a single set of business terms, with Apple charging a commission on sales of digital goods and services ^[4]. The Core Technology Fee, described by Apple as a per-install fee for developers who reach extraordinary scale, is replaced by the Core Technology Commission, a 5% commission on digital transactions in apps distributed outside the App Store ^[5]. The Initial Acquisition Fee and Store Services Fee are eliminated ^[6]. Apple's own summary of the update also lists adjusted commission rates across the App Store, alternative payments and alternatively distributed apps ^[7], without printing the new rates in the announcement text supplied here.

The consequence is a change of variable. A cost that attached to installs regardless of whether the install ever paid for anything now attaches only to transactions ^[5]. For a high-install, low-monetisation app, that removes the specific line item that made distribution outside the App Store expensive.

Two provisions matter more to a review queue than to a finance model. First, apps in EU storefronts can now offer alternative payment methods and offers alongside Apple In-App Purchase, but a developer must keep the payment options it selects for 12 months ^[8][9]. A choice standing at the October 1, 2026 start would therefore run to about October 1, 2027 ^[20], so this is a decision to make with tax, chargeback, fraud and refund handling already assessed, not one to revisit in the next sprint.

Second, eligibility to operate an alternative app marketplace or use Web Distribution has been widened, and companies are no longer required to have a legal entity or to be established in the EU to do either ^[14]. Anyone whose vendor diligence assumed an EU-established counterparty on the other side of a distribution channel should retire that assumption before October.

There are also new child safety requirements for apps using alternative payment options on the App Store ^[10]. Apps in the Kids category must put alternative-payment purchase flows behind a parental gate and cannot offer an out-of-app purchase on a website ^[11]. For users under 13, alternative payment purchases must sit behind a parental gate and out-of-app offers are not permitted ^[12]; Apple's page sets a further tier for users aged 13 to 17 covering both in-app alternative payment processing and out-of-app offers, though the text supplied to us is cut off mid-sentence ^[13]. Reader apps in the EU may promote out-of-app offers without an actionable link, regardless of the StoreKit External Link Account Entitlement, subject to rules on where those offers appear ^[17].

Watch three things: whether the adjusted commission rates are published in full before acceptance decisions are due, whether the 12-month payment lock runs from acceptance or from October 1 ^[9], and which non-EU entities register as marketplace operators once the establishment requirement is gone ^[14]. Apple is offering 30-minute online appointments on the changes ^[18], which is the cheapest place to put the rate and lock-start questions.